NTT IndyCar driver Colton Herta, from Santa Clarita, races down Shoreline Drive during the 46th Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021. Herta won the race while Alex Palou, from Barcelona, Spain, won his first season championship. The three-day weekend event is more than just a race. Yes, fans will take to the track on Sunday, April 10, to watch Southern Californian Colton Herta try to defend last year’s Long Beach win.
For the Grand Prix Association, said president and CEO Jim Michaelian, remaining in the city is an opportunity to grow the race in a “desirable destination” and a chance to expand an event its customers enjoy. And for the city, the event is indeed a fun one for spectators — but its also a smart financial investment.
Pandemics notwithstanding, such a prospect should be bankable for most of this decade. While the contract extention the councilearlier this year reduced set up and tear down time beginning in 2023, and prioritizes the 2028 Summer Olympics, it also made the Grand Prix Association a stakeholder in future development discussions on portions of the race track.
Every year through 2028, the thousands who parachute from outside the region to visit downtown Long Beach for the Grand Prix, Vallejo said, will see how the downtown area is changing and improving.